


Of Sweaters and Silence

by ReGrim2020



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: (These tags tell you exactly what's going to happen), (see), (sorry), (this is just the plot right here), And stealing them, Artemis Crock is a good friend, Cute?, Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson is Bad at Feelings, Dick Grayson is Robin, Dick Grayson-centric, Dick grayson is cute, Dick misses his family, Even if they don't understand, Everybody loves Dick Grayson, Everybody loves Robin, Fluff, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Not explicitly mentioned, Robin gets a hug, Robin needs a hug, Robin steals sweaters, Sort of based on canon?, Sweaters, Tactile, Team Bonding, The Flying Graysons - Freeform, Wally West is a Good Friend, You know what?, You're Welcome, actually mostly fluff, and Robin is cute, and doesn't want to burden anyone, but - Freeform, but it's ok, but maybe a bit sad?, but not really, but they're kind of important, cuteness, everyone's a good friend, his friends want to help, hopefully, idk - Freeform, is actually pretty fluffy, kind of, robin-centric, she's in denial, so they don't mind, yeah - Freeform, you tell me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25171312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReGrim2020/pseuds/ReGrim2020
Summary: Robin hasn't quite been himself lately. The team notices.
Relationships: Aqualad & Robin, Artemis Crock & Robin, Batman & Robin - Relationship, Kid Flash & Robin, M'gann & Robin, Superboy & Robin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 235





	Of Sweaters and Silence

**Author's Note:**

> So, here you go! My first fanfiction on AO3, and it's for Young Justice! (Definitely not what I expected, but hey, you get what you get.)
> 
> Please be nice, I've barely watched YJ and haven't really read any of the comics so... Yeah, I don't know much about this universe. Most of my knowledge is based purely on fanfiction, so hehe, sorry for any inaccuracies in character portrayals.
> 
> Without further ado, here you go! Hope you'll enjoy! :)

Wally was the first one to notice something odd about Robin. Of course he was, what with being Robin’s best friend and as close to the boy as anyone had managed to be. Later, Wally would tell himself that he should have noticed _sooner_ , and Robin would laugh and say that he couldn’t have, even if it was obvious.

Then again, _everything_ is obvious in hindsight.

It was the silence that got to Wally first, which really spoke volumes of their friendship. After all, Robin told him later, he would have expected the sweaters to be the first clue. Disappearing clothing was a bit more obvious than silence, after all.

Nonetheless, Wally knew Robin – and Robin was _never_ silent like that. The boy was always moving, smiling, talking – _something_. Not… not quiet and small and _vulnerable_ , like he was now.

Wally glanced at his friend, momentarily taking his attention away from the movie that the two were watching. Usually Robin would have commented on something by now, or at least let out an obnoxiously loud sigh at the sheer ridiculousness of the plotline. Tonight, he had stayed completely still in the slumped down position that he had been in when they started watching.

“Rob?” Wally asked cautiously, not entirely sure about whether the boy wonder would appreciate his concern. Robin simply hummed in response, keeping his gaze focused on the screen. As if that would fool Wally into thinking he was actually watching the movie.

“You… you know you could tell me if something was wrong, right?” he continued softly, resisting the urge to lean over and brush Robin’s hair out of his face. The younger boy would _definitely_ not appreciate that.

“Nothing’s wrong, KF,” Robin murmured, his face briefly turning away from the screen to look at his friend. “But yeah, I know.”

Wally bit his lip and looked at Robin for a while longer. He didn’t look fine, but then again, Wally knew better than to force Robin into talking about whatever it was that was bothering him. And so, he simply sighed and said, “Alright, then.”

Robin wasn’t stupid. He knew that Wally hadn’t believed him when he said everything was fine, and he knew that his best friend had been keeping an eye on him ever since. The boy wonder was definitely _not_ whelmed with the turn of events, but at the same time, a small part of him felt oddly secured with the knowledge that someone was really looking out for him.

Just… Wally didn’t need to make it so _obvious_ , did he?

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re eating enough!” Wally huffed, crossing his arms with a mock glare directed at the boy wonder. “You know how you get when-”

“I know,” Robin sighed, letting out an exasperated sigh. He wasn’t a _child_ ; he didn’t need to be checked on all the time. Yet… “Thanks,” he added softly.

Artemis figured that the only reason she noticed something was off with Robin was because she was a human. After all, it wasn’t like she was _close_ with the boy, or even cared about him enough to check on him regularly. _That_ was obviously Wally’s job. It was just that Robin made it a bit too obvious, and Wally wasn’t helping by being all concerned.

If she hadn’t known better, Artemis would have said _she_ was concerned. But, she knew better, and Robin certainly didn’t need her concern. _She_ was just curious. And who wouldn’t be, what with how the boy was acting lately?

“You are aware that it’s two a.m., right?” she asked, looking down at the supposed boy wonder’s slumped form on the sofa.

“Yes?” Robin replied and continued staring at the TV with a blankness that so obviously told her he was _not_ watching _Desperate Housewives_.

“And you don’t think you should be sleeping?” Artemis continued, raising an eyebrow. “Instead of, you know, watching _this_?”

Robin simply shrugged, and Artemis had to fight back a frown at the fact that the boy hadn’t come up with some witty quip about how _he_ actually enjoyed the show, and it was incredibly narrow-minded of Artemis to believe that he wouldn’t be able to like it. At that though, Artemis really _did_ make a face. She shouldn’t have known him well enough to guess what he might have said if he had said something. She _definitely_ shouldn’t have found that thought a little bit amusing.

“Robin, really, we’re going on a mission in four hours, and Batman told us that we should get some rest,” she tried. And that was it, wasn’t it? She was just concerned about the mission, _not_ about him. “If you’re not well-rested, you’ll potentially endanger the whole team…”

Artemis trailed off at the lack of response from her youngest team member. _That_ should have given her at least some kind of a reaction, but nothing.

“Fine, be that way. Don’t come complaining to me about being tired tomorrow, then,” she eventually huffed, turning on her heel to go back to bed.

She didn’t miss the small softening of Robin’s face, nor the whispered, “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

On her way out, Artemis decided that she _would_ figure out what was bothering the boy. For the general safety of the team- and maybe because she was a _little_ concerned.

Robin did well on the mission the following day, but honestly, it would have been a huge let-down if he hadn’t. After all, this was just a simple recon mission, and – unlike many other “simple recon missions” they had had – nothing even remotely dangerous had happened. So, Artemis was completely ungrounded in her beliefs that he might endanger the team. Robin would never do that.

Not that he believed her when she said she was worried about the team. _Sure_ , that was part of it, but really, Robin had noticed ages ago that she was starting to care for them. He was flattered, honestly.

It was just that… he didn’t want them to worry about him, because there was nothing to be worried about. And even if there was, it would be unfair to place any of that on Artemis, who had just begun to feel like a part of them.

M’gann would attribute her findings to her excellent eye for detail. Really. After all, while Robin’s behaviour had been perplexing, she hadn’t been sure about whether it was _normal_ for humans to act as Robin had done for a while. And even with her slight concerns backing her up, it had seemed unnecessarily rude to ask about it.

Robin wearing Wally’s sweater, however? That seemed like something tangible to grasp onto.

“Isn’t that Wally’s sweater, Robin?” she asked, mere seconds after noticing the fact. Robin’s head snapped up at that, a faint blush rising to his cheeks at the notion. Yet, he merely shrugged and set out to prepare a sandwich.

“Wait,” Wally’s voice rang out as he leaned over the sofa to take a good look at his best friend. “That _is_ my sweater, isn’t it? I thought I lost it ages ago.”

M’gann tilted her head and looked back at Robin, who was decidedly not looking at either of them. The Martian could almost have said he seemed… embarrassed?

“It looks good on you, Robin,” she said with a soft smile, hoping that her words would help him feel more comfortable in the situation. Not that she knew exactly what this _situation_ entailed. “Orange suits you.”

“Er… thanks?” Robin mumbled, keeping his back turned to them.

“Miss M is right,” Wally piped up from the sofa. “But please don’t spill anything on it, I actually happen to like that sweater!”

Robin didn’t respond, instead opting to leave the room with his sandwich and Wally’s sweater. It really _did_ look good on him, in that adorable way that wearing too large clothing looked good on people.

M’gann smiled softly, and wished that she could have taken a picture. Robin’s posture had been so much more relaxed in that sweater than she had ever seen it be in costume or in any of his own shirts.

Robin could have smacked himself for being so oblivious. Honestly, how could he be stupid enough to go into the kitchen while wearing _Wally’s_ sweater? It wasn’t like he had any orange clothing of his own, and even if he did, it was obvious that the sweater wasn’t his. Then again, Robin supposed he could blame it on the fact that the sweater was _soft_ , and _warm,_ and felt _safe_. It smelled like Wally, and while he was wearing it, Robin could pretend that he had someone close to him. Not that Wally would have said no if Robin had asked his friend for a hug, but really, that just seemed like a whole new level of _sad_ , and Robin was not ready for the questions that would follow.

So, it had seemed like a much better option to sneak into KF’s room and steal a sweater and wear it whenever his thoughts seemed just a little bit too much for him to handle.

The team was never supposed to find out. Yet, Robin found himself not particularly minding.

Aqualad berated himself for not noticing anything sooner. He _was_ the team leader, and it was his duty to make sure that everyone was fine. Robin, all too obviously, was not. Kaldur’ahm knew that his youngest team member would not blame him for anything at all, but that made things only slightly better.

It wasn’t like any of the subtle changes in Robin had actually _been_ very subtle. No, they were obvious, and should have been clear for anyone to see. Alas, they had not been.

Kaldur had noted the fact that Robin was more silent than usual. He had paid due attention to the stillness in the young acrobat’s body and had filed his observations into a compartment of things that were curious, but not alarming. He should have placed his observations into the group of things that ought to be looked into.

Then there were Robin’s sweaters. Rather, there were the sweaters that were _not_ Robin’s. Wally was the obvious one, and while Kaldur had noticed this oddity, he had simply shrugged it off as something that was probably natural for the two boys with such a close bond. Then there had been the distinctively green one that Kaldur could have _sworn_ had been on Artemis earlier in the week. He had fully expected the archer to storm Robin’s room and demand it back, but Artemis had glanced at it only once before turning her focus back to her arrows. So, Kaldur had been confused, but accepted the whole sweater thing as some earth custom that Atlanteans were not aware of.

That was until he saw Robin wearing one of _his_ sweaters, curled up on the kitchen countertop at five in the morning.

“Robin,” he acknowledged with a nod, trying his best to keep the confusion from lacing his tone. He doubted he had succeeded with that. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

Robin simply shrugged, shifting his posture so that his face was half covered in Kaldur’s sweater. The Atlantean debated with himself for a while before leaning back on the counter opposite to Robin.

“I tend to wake early. You, I know, do not. Has something happened?” he tried, hoping that the boy wouldn’t take offense to his question.

“No,” Robin replied, voice muffled by the turquoise sweater in front of his mouth. “Just wasn’t tired.”

Kaldur offered a small smile and turned to the fridge. Perhaps some food could cheer Robin up, or at the very least help him get his mind off whatever it was that was bothering him.

Robin respected Kaldur in a wholly different way than he respected his other team members. Naturally, each young hero on the team had earned their place there and was nothing less than competent, but Kaldur’s calmness and secure approach to things had, to Robin’s initial surprise, made him an excellent leader. The young acrobat could respect a good leader when he saw one, and perhaps for that reason he felt oddly close to telling Kaldur exactly what it was that was bothering him.

He did not, but as he watched Kaldur work in the kitchen, Robin felt a soft smile creep onto his face. The sheer domesticity of the scene was comforting, and Robin almost felt his eyes slip closed in a moment of comfort.

He knew, of course, that Kaldur was well aware of Robin’s discomfort, as well as the fact that he was wearing one of the Atlantean’s sweaters, but no comments were made of the subject.

Robin reminded himself to thank Kaldur for that, later.

Superboy would have been upset for being the last one to notice something was amiss if it wasn’t for the fact that, well, it was _Robin._ The boy could hide things almost as well, if not better, than Batman himself, and… Superboy had never been the best at deciphering what people _meant_ with their actions.

Sure, he had noticed Robin was more silent than before, but then again, that could have been for _any_ reason. Superboy, after all, could hardly understand _himself_ most of the time, so how would he ever have understood someone as complex as Robin?

Still, hearing the boy sneaking around in his room did make Superboy curious. Robin had a room of his own, and there was hardly anything in Superboy’s room that the other could want. Not even a sweater; contrary to popular belief, Superboy _had_ noticed Robin wearing the others’ clothing.

“What are you doing?” he asked in a gruff voice, but beneath the gruffness, a genuine streak of curiosity could be heard.

“I…” Robin looked like a deer caught in headlights, despite the fact that he _must_ have heard Superboy’s entrance. “Uh… nothing?”

“Nothing?” Superboy repeated, glancing at Robin’s hunched form on his bed. Superboy’s comforter was draped over the small boy’s frame, and a laptop was sitting between his knees. “Can’t you do nothing in your own room?”

Robin pursed his lips, and somehow Superboy had a feeling that he had said something wrong. “I- yeah, of course,” Robin said, none of his usual cheer present in his tone. “Sorry. I’ll just-”

Superboy opened his mouth to say something – he wasn’t sure _what_ exactly, but he couldn’t just let the boy leave like this when he seemed to be upset about something. Yet, before he could form a single word, Robin had already walked over to the door, laptop clutched firmly in his arms.

“Wait,” Superboy finally mustered, reaching out to grab Robin’s shoulder. He must have used more force than necessary, though, because Robin visibly flinched at that. “Uh, I mean. You could stay, if you want?”

Robin turned to look at him with a slightly confused look on his face, before smiling softly. “Thanks, but it’s fine. I- I should get going anyhow,” the boy murmured, shrugging Superboy’s hand off of his shoulder and making his way out through the door.

In the back of his mind, something told Superboy that he shouldn’t just let it go. So, he didn’t.

Robin had known that it would be stupid to go into Superboy’s room. It was just that… well, he felt a little bit bad for stealing sweaters from the rest of them, and after a while, the familiar scents had begun to wear off from the borrowed garments. Superboy, he knew, didn’t own any sweaters, but still, he was one of the most comforting people that Robin knew. Which probably said more about what kind of people Robin knew than anything else, honestly.

So, he had risked it, and sneaked into Superboy’s room, attempting to comfort himself with the blanket that was just about _embedded_ with the familiar smell of Superboy. Saying that out loud would probably have made him sound at least a little creepy, but to himself, Robin could admit that it soothed his nerves.

But, of course, Superboy was bound to find out. Really, Robin would have been disappointed if he hadn’t noticed anything. That didn’t mean that he was happy with the turn of events.

Neither did it mean that Robin was upset about it.

“Something is up with Robin,” Superboy said, his eyes flickering over the rest of the team.

“No shit,” Wally muttered under his breath, leaning his head back with feigned nonchalance. Honestly, he was simply happy that someone else had finally decided to _do_ something about it.

“Right, so…” Artemis trailed off with a questioning look on her face. “Are we going to do something or what?”

“It is not quite so simple,” Kaldur said with a frown. At the incredulous looks directed at him, he continued, “I am worried about Robin as well. However, I know that he might not appreciate us confronting him about it, much less discussing the issue behind his back, and-”

“Yeah, well, maybe there isn’t much else that we could do,” Wally sighed. “I don’t like sneaking behind his back either, but c’mon, the dude’s clearly not feeling it. And it’s not like he’d tell us on his own.”

“But might this not hurt Robin’s feelings?” M’gann asked cautiously.

“Well, maybe we just need to risk that,” Artemis said with a shrug. “Kid idiot’s right, he wouldn’t tell us if we don’t ask, and even if we _did_ ask, he might not say anything.”

“I guess you might be right, but…” M’gann trailed of, her face showing all her uncertainty clear as day.

“So, it’s settled, we’ll figure out what’s up with Rob on our own, and then we’ll- oh. Hi, Rob,” Wally grinned sheepishly, silently hoping that his best friend had not heard what they had just been discussing.

“Hi,” Robin said quietly, settling down in the empty armchair next to the sofa. His face betrayed nothing, and when Robin didn’t comment on Wally’s earlier words, the team let out a collective sigh of relief.

“So… what’s up, dude?” Wally asked with feigned cheer. Robin barely glanced up as he shrugged in response. “Uh, yeah, right. So, um, you wanna talk about… whatever this is?”

Robin visibly tensed for a second before responding in that same subdued voice that he had been using all too much recently. “It’s nothing, KF.”

“Robin, does your mood have anything to do with wearing our sweaters recently?” Kaldur asked carefully, hoping that he had not stepped over some unwritten line. It was just that… Robin, curled up on the chair reminded him an awful lot of Robin curled up on the counter in Kaldur’s sweater. Only that the younger boy had looked a bit more comfortable then, burrowed in the depths of the all-too-large sweater.

Robin briefly looked at Kaldur, but merely shrugged in response. It wasn’t like there was anything he could say that wouldn’t make him look like… like what? A massive creep? A weak child? Robin wasn’t even sure that _he_ knew what he was afraid of.

“I… um, I have a sweater that shrunk in the wash earlier,” M’gann started carefully, having noted something quite similar as Kaldur. “You… If you want to, I could give it to you?”

“I…” Robin trailed off, pursing his lips to stop himself from _talking_ , because he just _knew_ that his voice would end up cracking. Still. The gesture was nice enough to deserve at least a _thank you._ So, painfully aware of how choked he sounded, Robin mustered a small, “Thanks, M’gann.”

“You’re welcome, Robin,” the Martian said with a soft smile, silently pleased that she had managed to do _something_ right.

Wally frowned, looking at Robin’s hunched form with worry. The interactions between M’gann and Robin gave him a sudden idea, which, alright, might not have been the best one, but… With only a slight hesitation, Wally tugged his sweater – canary yellow – over his head, and threw it at a surprised Robin.

“You can wear that one for now,” he said with a shrug at his best friend’s confused face. Sure, it was a little bit chilly in the cave without the sweater, but he was a speedster, and the T-shirt would certainly be enough for the moment. The soft smile that crossed Robin’s face was definitely worth it, anyhow.

“You know, we should probably still find out what’s up with him,” Artemis said drily as she and Wally stood in the kitchen, silently watching Robin as he sat on the sofa, wearing Kaldur’s sweater.

It was now a regular sight to see Robin in another team member’s sweater, and each of the older teens went up to him with one of their sweaters on a regular interval. Even Superboy had gotten himself a couple sweaters that he’d wear and eventually hand over to Robin. None of them knew exactly what it was about the sweaters that made Robin feel better, but it was obvious that they did. From the soft looks on Robin’s face to the eased tension in his shoulders, there was no question about whether to accommodate to Robin’s needs or not.

The only question that the team _did_ have was what was actually up with Robin.

“I know,” Wally sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s just… I don’t know. Do you think he’d tell us?”

“Not really,” Artemis shrugged. “But we obviously won’t find out if he doesn’t tell us.”

“Soo…” Wally dragged out, looking at the archer expectantly. “What do you suggest we do, then?”

“Ask him. And don’t let him get away with it if he doesn’t respond,” she said with a slight smirk.

In the end, they didn’t have to _ask_ , exactly. A simple accidental hug seemed to be enough.

The thing with Robin was that he had a way to _seem_ like he needed a lot of personal space. So, no one on the team had really thought of the possibility that Robin might, in fact, be an extremely tactile person. Therefore, they had rarely hugged Robin – aside from Wally, but Wally hugged Robin often enough to not think about Robin’s reactions.

When Artemis stumbled and fell on top of Robin, landing them in an awkward hug, it was painfully obvious to her that the boy wonder wasn’t _upset_. No, he wasn’t even trying to push her off of him. Instead, he almost seemed to melt into the touch, and she could have sworn that he felt way less tense than he had _looked_ just moments before. And when Robin hadn’t moved even after a good thirty seconds… well, Artemis made a select few conclusions, one of them being that Robin actually _liked_ physical contact. The second one being that the boy obviously didn’t get _enough_ of it.

So, as she sat up, her first thought was to drag Robin up with her and into a firm hug. The boy barely had time to be surprised before he found himself leaning into the touch, letting himself be comforted by her closeness in a way that he hadn’t been comforted since… since.

“Come here, Kid idiot,” Artemis growled at the wide-eyed Wally standing above them. After just a brief moment of hesitation, the speedster crouched down next to the hugging pair, and tentatively wrapped his arms around Robin from the other side.

Robin’s face crumpled at the touch, and before he could even think to stop himself, he let out a silent sob.

“…Rob?” Wally asked, carefully, while trying to figure out whether he should let go or not. “You- you alright?”

Wally felt like punching himself. _You alright?_ Of course Robin wasn’t alright, or else he wouldn’t be _sobbing_.

“I- sorry,” Robin mumbled, weakly attempting to remove himself from the embrace. When that failed, he simply slumped back and murmured in a voice so soft that they almost didn’t hear him, “I just… miss them.”

Artemis frowned, flicking through all the people that she could imagine Robin missing. The list was, unfortunately, short, and not very useful. Batman? No, he was right in Gotham, as always. Yet, as Artemis glanced up at Wally, she could see understanding dawn on the boy’s face as he held his – _their_ – friend tighter.

“It’s alright, Rob,” Wally murmured, with a softness that Artemis only ever heard him use with Robin. “It’s alright to miss them.”

And as Robin silently cried in their arms, Artemis came to a decision. It didn’t _matter_ if she didn’t understand, or didn’t know, what was up with Robin. What mattered was that she knew what she could do about it.

Strangely enough, the team grew much more tactile afterwards. Robin kept on using their sweaters as his security blankets, but whenever he was feeling particularly miserable, at least one member of the team would take notice and sweep in with a warm hug for the boy wonder.

Despite himself, Robin found himself not minding that his team knew of this one particular weakness. If Batman found out – which he most certainly did – he never said anything. Somehow, Robin figured that his mentor and adoptive father was secretly pleased. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, opinions? 
> 
> Also, should I write more for this fandom? (I will.) Also, should I add onto this fluffy-ish one-shot and make it into a collection of cute Young Justice/Robin stuff? Tell me :3


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